What Will Superman Do Without His Superpowers?
by Windrises
Summary: Lex Luthor gives Superman a formula, that removes his superpowers. Will Superman be able to save the day, without a single superpower?


Note: Superman is owned by DC Comics and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster.

Superman had saved dozens of people and defeated Brainiac. Because of this victory and his previous actions, Superman was going to receive a party in his honor.

Clark Kent finished up a meeting with his boss, Perry White. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen noticed how mad the boss was at Clark, so Lois asked, "Did you ask for another raise?"

Clark said, "No, I already knew that was a hopeless case. Mr. White's mad at me, because I won't be able to report on Superman's party." Clark couldn't do a report on Superman's party, because he was Superman.

Lois asked, "How come you can't go to the party?"

Clark nervously gulped and answered, "Um, I have an important thing to do."

Jimmy Olsen replied, "Hold on, Mr. Kent. I know what's really going on here." Clark started looking scared. Jimmy looked at Lois and asked, "Have you ever noticed how Clark and Superman are never around at the same time?"

Lois said, "I sure have noticed that."

Clark replied, "Well Superman flies around so fast, that it's hard to visit him."

Jimmy responded, "Yeah right. Lois and I have seen him hundreds of times. What's your excuse?"

Clark nervously said, "I just have bad luck."

Jimmy shook his head and replied, "I don't think so. I know your secret." Clark was worried that Jimmy had found out his secret identity. Jimmy said, "You secretly don't like Superman, don't you?"

Clark breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Yep, I'm not fond of Superman."

Lois asked, "How could anybody hate Superman?"

Clark answered, "I wouldn't say I hate him, but he's overhyped. If he didn't have those fancy dancy superpowers, he wouldn't be so special."

Lois replied, "Superman has more good qualities, than just superpowers."

Clark responded, "That's debatable."

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor was in his business building, while listening to the news report about Superman getting his own party. Lex was upset about this. He angrily punched his desk.

Lex's assistant, Mercy Graves, walked in and said, "Whether or not you break that desk with your punches, is up to you. After all, it's not worth that much."

Lex lightly smiled and replied, "I'm glad to hear that." He broke the desk and flung it out the window.

Mercy looked out the window and said, "That property damage isn't good for your reputation."

Lex looked annoyed, while asking, "Why didn't you warn me?"

Mercy said, "I didn't think you'd throw your desk out the window."

Lex replied, "Then you don't know what I'm really capable of."

Mercy asked, "Why are you so stressed out?"

Lex said, "Because Superman's getting his own party. That overhyped man of steel deserves no rewards. In fact, he deserves a punishment. I wish there was something I could do about that. My wealth makes me more powerful than any regular person, but I don't have the strength to defeat Superman. However, if he lost his superpowers, I could easily defeat him."

Brainiac broke into Lex's office. He calmly walked up to Lex. Lex had a surprised look on his face, while asking, "How did you get in here? Superman defeated you."

Brainiac replied, "He did managed to win that fight. However, I escaped custody. Anyways, I heard about your desire to take away Superman's superpowers. I've been wanting to make that happen."

Lex smiled and responded, "It seems like brilliant minds think alike."

Brainiac replied, "I've finally completed a formula which can erase Superman's superpowers. I look too weird to be able to sneak into a crowd and give Superman this stuff. However, you're pretty average and bland looking, so you can easily give it to him."

Lex held the strange-looking formula. He didn't understand what it was or how Brainiac made it. However, he hardly cared. He signaled to Mercy and whispered, "Take Brainiac outside and break that robot apart."

Mercy replied, "But he helped you."

Lex had an evil grin on his face, while saying, "He's given me all that I need, so it's time to leave him behind. Besides, nobody calls me bland and gets away with it."

After Brainiac was taken away, Lex stared out the window and said, "Superman, I hope you're treasuring your ability to fly, because tomorrow will be your last flight." He did an evil laugh.

The next day, a party was thrown in the park. Thousands of reporters and fans were at the event. Mayor Hamilton Hill faced the crowd and said, "Greetings, citizens of Gotham."

Jimmy replied, "Dude, this is Metropolis."

Mayor Hill looked embarrassed, while saying, "Wowsers, I'm in the wrong city and I doubt this party is about my city's hero."

Lois rolled her eyes and said, "If you want to find our city's hero, look up in the sky." The crowd looked up. Superman was flying in the sky.

Perry White said, "It's a bird."

Jimmy replied, "It's a plane."

Mayor Hill said, "It's a frog!"

Lois looked at the clueless mayor and asked, "Where's your common sense?" Mayor Hill nervously smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Superman flew down. He faced a big crowd of people, who were taking pictures. Lex was in the crowd and was trying to blend in. Superman said, "Thank you for this party. It's an honor to fight crime in this wonderful city. I'll always protect the citizens of this city, no matter what."

Lex started pushing citizens out of his way and asked, "What if you lose the ability to save people?"

Superman angrily asked, "What are you talking about?" Lex threw the power-removing formula at Superman. Superman asked, "What did you throw at me?"

Jimmy said, "It looked like an expired soda."

Lex replied, "It's something far more dangerous. That formula took away your superpowers. You're no longer Superman. You're Average-Man."

Superman said, "Yeah right, you mad scientist. Let me prove you wrong." Superman stood on a small stage and jumped off. He was planning on flying to the ground, but that didn't work. He fell to the ground.

Most of the crowd members were scared, but Lex was laughing. He started punching and kicking Superman. He grabbed the man of steel and said, "Without your powers, you could never compare to my excellence." He punched Superman in the face, which made him pass out. He signaled to Mercy, to grab Superman and take him back to his lair.

When Superman woke up, he was trapped in rope. Lex walked up to him and asked, "Are you comfortable?"

Superman asked, "What did you do to me?"

Lex said, "Superman, you think you're some kind of role-model, but I'm here to give you the truth: You're a bad influence."

Superman asked, "What are you talking about?"

Lex pointed to Superman and said, "You're a cheater. You use your powers to defeat average-powered criminals. That hardly counts as fair. Without your boastful powers, you have no strength, nothing special to offer."

Superman asked, "What are you going to do to me?"

Lex grinned and said, "I'm going to keep you locked up for a few weeks, until I finish preparing for your demise. Those are specially made ropes. No regular man or woman has broken out of those. Even if you find a way to get loose, I have a team of henchmen in the hallway. You normally wouldn't be scared of henchmen, but these guys have guns and without your superpowers, guns can defeat you." He did an evil laugh and walked out.

Superman felt ashamed of himself, for losing his superpowers. He was also worried about how he'd win without them. However, Superman wasn't willing to give up. He planned on letting nothing stop him. After all, he stood up for truth and justice. He used to think he just stood for America, but he realized he stood for the entire world.

Superman tried to get out of the ropes. He knew it would be super challenging to do that, but his heart was filled with bravery and determination. As he tried to free from the ropes, he could feel his body getting hurt. He relaxed for a few seconds, before getting back to ripping the ropes. After a half hour of effort, the ropes were ripped up.

Superman smiled and ran out of the room. Mercy saw him, so she pointed a weapon at him and had Lex's henchmen point guns at him.

Although a powerless Superman could be defeated by bullets, he didn't give up. He tried to remember the tips that Batman had taught him, about avoiding bullet shots. Superman moved around, as quickly and sneakily as he could. Before the henchmen could shoot him, Superman had taken their guns away and started punching him. Mercy and the henchmen tried to stop him, but he was too strong, despite not having any powers.

Superman burst into Lex's office. Lex had an angry and shocked look on his face, while asking, "How did you stop my forces?"

Superman folded his arms and asked, "Do you think that powers are all I have to offer? At the risk of sounding boastful, I can defeat you without powers. You managed to take my powers away, but you'll never take away my desire to stop you and make the world a safer place." He grabbed Lex and said, "Come on, you scoundrel. I'm taking you to prison."

Lex had a smug smile on his face, while saying, "You managed to defeat me, but how will you defeat your super-powered enemies, without your powers?"

Superman smirked and said, "An old friend of mine, named Dr. Fate, can easily get my powers back."

Lex sighed and replied, "I hate how convenient and cool your life is."

Superman said, "Seems like you'll never be as powerful as me, unless you give up your evil ways."

Lex stubbornly replied, "If I had superpowers, I would be able to defeat you. In fact, I would be able to defeat the entire Justice League." Superman was amused by Lex's nonsense. He grabbed the evil businessman and took him to jail.

The next day, Superman had his powers back. He went for a flight around the city, before going to the ground. A crowd of reporters and photographers ran up to him. Lois asked, "Is it true that you lost your powers?"

Superman said, "Yes and I'm glad to have them back. However, I want you to know that if my powers went away again, I wouldn't stop trying to save the day. You don't need superpowers, to be a hero. There's plenty of people, who seem average, but have made a great difference." Superman saluted his fellow citizens and continued his flight.

Jimmy said, "Superman's so amazing. I don't get why Clark Kent hates him."

Superman smiled, during his flight. He used to worry that he wouldn't be helpful without his superpowers. However, he proved himself, as well as Lex Luthor, wrong. Whether or not the world has superpowers or superheroes, Superman knew that justice would fly in the sky, just like the rising of the wind.


End file.
